Dancing with the Stars 15
The fifteenth season of Dancing with the Stars (also known as Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars) premiered 24 September 2012. The season featured thirteen returning couples, deemed an "all-star cast". Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke returned as hosts. Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba all returned as judges. The dance styles Bollywood and Disco were introduced, and Rock 'n' Roll returned. On 27 November 2012, reality star Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani were announced as the winners; Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough placed second, and model Kelly Monaco and Valentin Chmerkovskiy placed third. Development The names of twelve returning celebrities were revealed 27 July 2012. All twelve professionals from Season 14 returned. A thirteenth contestant was chosen by the public from among Sabrina Bryan, Kyle Massey, or Carson Kressley. Bryan was announced the winner 27 August 2012 over Kressley and Massey. Louis van Amstel was partnered with Bryan, while the professional partners for the first twelve celebrities were revealed 13 August. Mark Ballas and Cheryl Burke were the professionals with the most returning partners (three) and each reunited with one. Five contestants reunited with their original partners, while the other eight danced with new ones. The returning members of the dance troupe for this season were Oksana Dmytrenko, Emma Slater, Sharna Burgess, Henry Byalikov, and Sasha Farber. Sonny Fredie-Pedersen replaced Kiki Nyemchek. This season is the only one to offer fractional (0.5) scores. This is the first season where a couple performed a style of dance that no other couple performed: the waltz, danced only by Sabrina Bryan and Louis van Amstel. Couples Scoring Charts Judge's Scoring Summary Average Scoring Chart Highest- and Lowest-Scoring Performances Couples' Highest- and Lowest-Scoring Dances Weekly Scores Unless indicated otherwise, individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3: Iconic Dances Week * Celebrities chose an iconic routine from the previous fourteen seasons and performed it but tried to make it as "iconic" as it was previously. * There was also a double-elimination. Two couples were "in jeopardy" halfway through the hour, two more at the end, with one couple of each pair eliminated. Week 4: Opponents' Choice Week Individual judges scores in the chart below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Paula Abdul, Bruno Tonioli. * All of the celebrities chose a dance style for one of their opponents, as well as getting their style of dance chosen by a fellow competitor. * Paula Abdul served as guest judge. * Hélio & Chelsie would have danced Broadway, chosen by Shawn & Derek, had they not been eliminated. Week 5: Guilty Pleasures Week * The two couples with the highest total cumulative points/average became "team captains" and chose teams to join them in the Team Freestyle; these captains were Gilles & Peta and Shawn & Derek. * Gilles & Peta's team consisted of Kelly & Val, Emmitt & Cheryl, and Kirstie & Maks. * Shawn & Derek's team consisted of Sabrina & Louis, Melissa & Tony, and Apolo & Karina. * Bristol & Mark would have joined the team who lost a member, had they not been eliminated. * Due to a presidential debate 22 October, this week of competition consisted of two performance shows - 22 and 23 October. * There was no elimination, so all the couples returned to dance during Week Six. Night 1 Night 2 Week 6: Country Night * Each contestant and their partner danced Country Western to a country song. * Each individual routine included a solo portion by the celebrity member of the pair. * After all individual routines were performed, all of the couples did a group dance. * The couple that impressed the judges the most received two bonus points; that was Kirstie & Maks. Week 7: Dance Fusion Week * On the Week 6 Results Show, dance styles were chosen by the couples for each other, as was done for Opponent's Choice Week. For this week, however, a pair of dance styles was chosen that were to be "fused" together. * Due to the presidential election and effects of Hurricane Sandy for East Coast viewers, no elimination took place, so all remaining couples advanced to Week 8. * There was also a Swing dance marathon. Mark Ballas danced with Shawn Johnson in place of Derek this week due to Derek having an injury in his neck. * Sabrina & Louis would have danced a Tango/Foxtrot fusion, chosen by Emmitt & Cheryl, if they had not been eliminated. Week 8: Trio Challenge * All seven couples chose one professional that was either previously eliminated or participates in the dance troupe, to perform with them in their Latin trio dance routine. * There was also a double elimination. * In honor of Veterans Day, the first round featured performances to songs that pay homage to servicemen and women. Week 9: Semifinals * The couples performed one unlearned dance to a song from Michael Jackson's album Bad and one dance chosen by the other couples. The theme of the last dance was also chosen by the other couples. * Gilles and Peta would have danced the "Mad Monk" Merengue, chosen by Apolo and Karina, had they not been eliminated. * There is also another double elimination this week, due to the Finals. Week 10: Finals * Each couple performed their favorite dance of the season, along with a super-sized freestyle on night one, and an instant dance on night two in which they had to choose their dance style as well as their music the night of the competition. * Each couple was allowed to bring in extra performers for their freestyle only. Musical Guests Trivia * The finale marked the first time three female celebrities competed head-to-head for the Mirrorball Trophy. * Mark Ballas and Cheryl Burke were the professionals with the most returning partners (three) and each reunited with one. * Season 8 saw the most returning contestants, with three of the thirteen contestants coming from that season. * This was the third season in a row a couple was eliminated Week 3 after scoring a 24. In the two neighboring seasons that week, that was 1 point away from the lead, excluding the prom king and queen voting in Season 16. * Sabrina Bryan has now performed the same amount of traditional multiple judge score dances as Joanna Krupa from Season 9. References Category:Seasons